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Why can't you refreeze breast milk?

We (meaning she obviously) have been very good about pumping storage following all the rules and guidelines on storing milk. However, recently the babysitter brought us a bag of the milk we had been giving her with around 40-50 oz of breast milk. She was so upset that the sitter had all this milk that was thawing and hadnt been used. Do we just throw all this milk away? what are the major issues with refreezing the milk after it as started to thaw? What type of damage will that do to our son?

Re: Why can't you refreeze breast milk?

I'd be careful about this. Thawing and refreezing is a known (and common) way that bacteria that cause food poisoning can enter food and start to multiply. So, once you've thawed some chicken, it is recommended that you eat it or toss it, do not refreeze it. That said, breastmilk has a lot of properties that help it to resist spoiling, so you can get away with bending the rules a little bit. Still, if I had a lot of breastmilk that thawed, I would not put it all back in the freezer.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: Why can't you refreeze breast milk?

if you do decide to refreeze, maybe label it as refrozen and save it for an emergency? Hopefully the emergency situation never arises and you eventually toss it with no hard feelings, but if it does arise then at that time you reevaluate how you feel abut using the refrozen milk. Just putting the decision off for a while can help. I kept a few oz of refrozen milk in the freezer for a long time because it had been such an effort to produce and transport and store those oz. I wasn't yet ready to simply dump them down the sink. Call me a hoarder if you will!